The Young’s Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company Limited
Company Number: SC000221
Date of Incorporation: 4 January 1866
Contact Details: 1 Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, Aberdeen, AB21 7PB
Operating Details: Active (now a subsidiary of BP, see history)
Other names (if known):
Function of Company*: Other business activities (7487) previously shale oil refining (2320)
Headquarters/Base of Operations Location: Addiewell, West Calder
Area of Operation: Addiewell shale/oil works
*Taken from Standard Industrial Classification 2003, as used by Companies House in 2010
Records
Held By: Split between the BP archive and Almond Heritage Valley Trust. At this time (Jan 2011) most of the BP archive is to be transferred to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust, except those records that relate to BP/Anglo Persian Oil. No reference number for collection.
Scope/type: BP archive c.1870s-1973; annual reports and accounts, Directors minutes, financial information, legal agreements and leases etc, some records of company housing
Almond Valley Heritage Trust; Plans, maps and technical drawings of mining and refinery works, various operational paperwork and artifacts, photographs and negatives
Conditions governing access/use: The BP archive is open to the public for any records up to 1979 by prior appointment. The Almond Valley Heritage Trust is in the middle of an ambitious project to digitise its records, but otherwise they remain open to the public by prior appointment
Related records: See The Scottish Shale Oil Project for further details. Prospectus, cuttings and plans held by West Lothian History Library. Photographs held at Falkirk Council Archives. Some plans and other documents held at the NAS.
The personal papers of James ‘Paraffin’ Young are held in University of Strathclyde Archives GB 249 T-YOU although his involvement within the company was limited.
Company History
Founded in 1866 to exploit the shale fields of West Calder, this company purchased the Addiewell shale oil site from James ‘Paraffin’ Young, who took very little active interest in the company, though he held shares in the company and sat on the board.
"1866 is noted as being the year in which the much-heard-of Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company came into existence. It was started with a capital stock of £600,000, of which £400,000 was paid to Young for his Bathgate and Addiewell Works, together with the leases of the shale fields & c., while Young retained a large holding in the company, and acted on the board of directors. Although the company was fairly prosperous for some years, and had an output equal to about one-third of the total production of the Scotch works combined, it cannot be said to have been a financial success of late years; due, firstly, to it having been handicapped, as a large dividend payer, by the burden of carrying and excessively large capital, and secondly, being the first company of any importance, the works were necessarily fitted up with expensive apparatus and machinery that proved in a few years to be unsuitable for refining the oils so as to suit the more exacting requirements of the later-day trade." (A Practical Treatise on Mineral Oils and their By-Products, Iltyd. I. Redwood, 1897)
By 1868 the company owned sites at Bathgate (which had a crude oil refinery and acid plant) and the larger Addiewell site, and employed 1500 people and processed 172000 tons of shale per year. In 1879 the company expanded by buying the West Calder Oil Company, although the Bathgate site began to slow down. In 1884 crude oil production ceased at Bathgate, and by 1887 the process plant had transferred to Addiewell as well, although the sulphuric acid plant operated until 1956. The company acquired the Uphall Mineral Oil Company Limited in the 1890s and gradually concentrated its operations at the Uphall works to exploit the shalefield there. By 1902 the company had acquired a coal mine at Baads, several local farms, and owned a lampworks in Birmingham.
Scottish Oils Limited
Scottish Oils Limited was formed by the merger of the 5 remaining Scottish shale oil companies (Pumpherston, Broxburn, Oakbank, Philpstoun and Youngs) in 1919. This company was a subsidiary of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which became British Petroleum in 1954), although all five companies continued to operate independently within the structure. Based at Middleton Hall, a 1707 mansion house in Uphall, Scottish Oils provided admin, marketing and technical support for the Scottish shale oil industry. Its first Managing Director was William Fraser of Pumpherston Oil. In 1924 Anglo Persian Oil supported the industry by opening the refinery in Grangemouth.
However following the removal of war time controls, soaring wage and price inflation made the oil produced in the Lothians more expensive and unprofitable. By 1932 the remaining shale oil companies were legally absorbed by Scottish Oils, which started to make dramatic cuts on staff and equpment. By 1938 there were five remaining crude oil works (Addiewell, Deans, Roman Camp, Hopetoun and Niddry Castle) and a dozen or so shale mines and pits, and a coal mine at Baads.
The Second World War bought an increase in oil prices and wages (the first real terms increase since the early part of the century), and even the redevelopment of premises. However by 1954 shale oil had again become a loss-making industry in Scotland, and closures began from the 1950s onwards. Broxburn (closed in 1962) and Pumpherston (1964) were the last refineries to close.
Young's... also developed Irano Products ltd, a subsidiary chemical company, which was subsequently called BP Detergents Ltd (26/8/1958 - 6/11/1989). This company, not to be confused with BP Detergents International, was called Young's Detergents Ltd from 1989 onwards.
Acknowledgements and thanks to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust and the BP Archive
The Young’s Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company Limited
Company Number: SC000221
Date of Incorporation: 4 January 1866
Contact Details: 1 Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, Aberdeen, AB21 7PB
Operating Details: Active (now a subsidiary of BP, see history)
Other names (if known):
Function of Company*: Other business activities (7487) previously shale oil refining (2320)
Headquarters/Base of Operations Location: Addiewell, West Calder
Area of Operation: Addiewell shale/oil works
*Taken from Standard Industrial Classification 2003, as used by Companies House in 2010
Records
Held By: Split between the BP archive and Almond Heritage Valley Trust. At this time (Jan 2011) most of the BP archive is to be transferred to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust, except those records that relate to BP/Anglo Persian Oil. No reference number for collection.
Scope/type: BP archive c.1870s-1973; annual reports and accounts, Directors minutes, financial information, legal agreements and leases etc, some records of company housing
Almond Valley Heritage Trust; Plans, maps and technical drawings of mining and refinery works, various operational paperwork and artifacts, photographs and negatives
Conditions governing access/use: The BP archive is open to the public for any records up to 1979 by prior appointment. The Almond Valley Heritage Trust is in the middle of an ambitious project to digitise its records, but otherwise they remain open to the public by prior appointment
Related records: See The Scottish Shale Oil Project for further details. Prospectus, cuttings and plans held by West Lothian History Library. Photographs held at Falkirk Council Archives. Some plans and other documents held at the NAS.
The personal papers of James ‘Paraffin’ Young are held in University of Strathclyde Archives GB 249 T-YOU although his involvement within the company was limited.
Company History
Founded in 1866 to exploit the shale fields of West Calder, this company purchased the Addiewell shale oil site from James ‘Paraffin’ Young, who took very little active interest in the company, though he held shares in the company and sat on the board.
"1866 is noted as being the year in which the much-heard-of Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company came into existence. It was started with a capital stock of £600,000, of which £400,000 was paid to Young for his Bathgate and Addiewell Works, together with the leases of the shale fields & c., while Young retained a large holding in the company, and acted on the board of directors. Although the company was fairly prosperous for some years, and had an output equal to about one-third of the total production of the Scotch works combined, it cannot be said to have been a financial success of late years; due, firstly, to it having been handicapped, as a large dividend payer, by the burden of carrying and excessively large capital, and secondly, being the first company of any importance, the works were necessarily fitted up with expensive apparatus and machinery that proved in a few years to be unsuitable for refining the oils so as to suit the more exacting requirements of the later-day trade." (A Practical Treatise on Mineral Oils and their By-Products, Iltyd. I. Redwood, 1897)
By 1868 the company owned sites at Bathgate (which had a crude oil refinery and acid plant) and the larger Addiewell site, and employed 1500 people and processed 172000 tons of shale per year. In 1879 the company expanded by buying the West Calder Oil Company, although the Bathgate site began to slow down. In 1884 crude oil production ceased at Bathgate, and by 1887 the process plant had transferred to Addiewell as well, although the sulphuric acid plant operated until 1956. The company acquired the Uphall Mineral Oil Company Limited in the 1890s and gradually concentrated its operations at the Uphall works to exploit the shalefield there. By 1902 the company had acquired a coal mine at Baads, several local farms, and owned a lampworks in Birmingham.
Scottish Oils Limited
Scottish Oils Limited was formed by the merger of the 5 remaining Scottish shale oil companies (Pumpherston, Broxburn, Oakbank, Philpstoun and Youngs) in 1919. This company was a subsidiary of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which became British Petroleum in 1954), although all five companies continued to operate independently within the structure. Based at Middleton Hall, a 1707 mansion house in Uphall, Scottish Oils provided admin, marketing and technical support for the Scottish shale oil industry. Its first Managing Director was William Fraser of Pumpherston Oil. In 1924 Anglo Persian Oil supported the industry by opening the refinery in Grangemouth.
However following the removal of war time controls, soaring wage and price inflation made the oil produced in the Lothians more expensive and unprofitable. By 1932 the remaining shale oil companies were legally absorbed by Scottish Oils, which started to make dramatic cuts on staff and equpment. By 1938 there were five remaining crude oil works (Addiewell, Deans, Roman Camp, Hopetoun and Niddry Castle) and a dozen or so shale mines and pits, and a coal mine at Baads.
The Second World War bought an increase in oil prices and wages (the first real terms increase since the early part of the century), and even the redevelopment of premises. However by 1954 shale oil had again become a loss-making industry in Scotland, and closures began from the 1950s onwards. Broxburn (closed in 1962) and Pumpherston (1964) were the last refineries to close.
Young's... also developed Irano Products ltd, a subsidiary chemical company, which was subsequently called BP Detergents Ltd (26/8/1958 - 6/11/1989). This company, not to be confused with BP Detergents International, was called Young's Detergents Ltd from 1989 onwards.
Acknowledgements and thanks to the Almond Valley Heritage Trust and the BP Archive